Cracking pad on HD595?

Had this pair for about a year and a half now. They have been on and off my head at least a few times every time I use them, which is very frequently, near daily when class is in provided there is no chance for rain snow or moisture and often at home so as not to disturb my fiance at night or while she is studying. When I take them off I am very careful about them not being compressed stretched bent able to fall or being stepped on.

The sliders, earpads and band are all fine and the top of the band is okay, with some light wear showing on the back of the housing probably from countless times of being rested on a table or desk and then picked up. The top of the band has one VERY small crack in the leatherish material on the right side near the HD595 print. Considering the insane and countless hours of use I get from them, this is not all that bothersome in itself

What bothers me is the pad on the band that rests on the top of your head. There are NOTICEABLE cracks on that pad around the area of the N's on the opposite side, directly between them, and the adhesive seems to be failing on the right speakers side.

Is this the cracking problem I remember hearing of? Or expected wear? What can be done?

The cracking issue with the 595's is on the earcup piece usually cracks form on around the n's in Sennheiser. I had a pair of 595's for about 1 1/2 years as well and mine developed cracks on both sides near the n's. The crack on one side was getting pretty long and I was getting closer to the end of my warranty so I decided to send them in to Sennheiser to see if I could get them replaced. I sent them a note with my warranty exchange request mentioning that this is a known defect with the 595's and asked if they could replace my 595's with a pair of 598's since the 595's are discontinued and I was worried if they just gave me a new headband the cracks would develop again and my warranty would be expired. Sennheiser sent me a factory refurbished pair of 598's the same week they got them no questions asked, I just had to pay the shipping to get my 595's to them. They look and sounded like they were brand new, so Sennheiser has a pretty good warranty department. Factory refurbished headphones are usually just as good as new if not better b/c they usually put in new parts and do even more extensive testing then they do on new headphones to make sure they don't end up being sent back to them again.

So my suggestion would be to find your receipt if you still have it and contact sennheiser and see what they can do for you. Does the leather itself just looked cracked like it is just worn or is there an actual crack in the headband piece? Posting pictures may help if you can. My guess is if the headphone itself is cracked, you still have a proof of purchase and you are in the 2 year warranty period, you could probably send them in and get a pair of like new refurbished 598's. Make sure you send them a note with your warranty request. The worst that could happen is they decide not to replace or fix them and you end up paying them to ship them back to you.

I don't know man the cracks in the leather just look normal wear and tear to me. Not a manufacturing defect like the issue with the plastic cracking near the headband. You might be able to convince them to fix/replace them since it looks like the padding underneath the headband is coming off and the headphones don't look like they have been abused and are in the warranty period I would call sennheiser and see if it is something they will cover under the warranty. Do you have a receipt still?

I don't know man the cracks in the leather just look normal wear and tear to me. Not a manufacturing defect like the issue with the plastic cracking near the headband. You might be able to convince them to fix/replace them since it looks like the padding underneath the headband is coming off and the headphones don't look like they have been abused and are in the warranty period I would call sennheiser and see if it is something they will cover under the warranty. Do you have a receipt still?

my fiance bought them off amazon as a birthday present september of 11'

alright. The only other thing that gets me is that, somehow, one day, I got back from work, many months ago, and found that one of my ear pads had what appeared to be a very small cigarette burn. still have yet to hear an explanation about that....But that's what it is..... I suppose I'd be satisfied with just having the pad on the headband replaced, as the rest is in good condition considering.... Should I put that on the attached note? or see if they'll bump me up to 598's since the 595's are now discontinued and for some reason now selling for 500$+ a set?

You might as well ask them if they can replace them with 598's. Just say you are worried about ending up with a discontinued product that will be out of warranty soon that might come apart on the headband again or eventually crack near the earcup since that is a known problem with the 595's. If they determine your headband problem falls under warranty they might automatically decide to replace your headphones with a pair of 598's anyway. My guess is unless the headband is the similar on the 595 as the 558's, they probably wouldn't have a 595 headband to replace yours with anyway since the 595 has been discontinued for around 2 years now.